Song Description
It's a legend that in English history, when people were buried after death, they were buried with a string tied to their wrist in case they were still alive. If they were still alive then they would move and the string tied to their wrist would ring a bell above ground. Then the gravedigger on the "graveyard shift" would come dig them out.
| Song Length |
4:17 |
Genre |
Folk - Traditional, Blues - General |
| Tempo |
Slow (71 - 90) |
Lead Vocal |
Male Vocal |
| Mood |
Tranquil, Quiet |
Subject |
Sorrow, Life |
| Similar Artists |
Tom Waits, Iron and Wine |
Language |
English |
| Era |
1900 - 1920 |
| |
Lyrics
I busy my spade
I busy my spade
When I hear that bell, now
I busy my spade
I busy my spade
I busy my spade
No one goes to hell, now
When I busy my spade
Go on home, you've done all you can
Ya tied the twine to your sister's hand
And laid out the bell after she got low
I was summoned here to be the guide
And sing her off to the other side
But if anything should happen, you'll be the first to know
If she's laying in the shade of the reaper's gown
I'll busy my spade when I hear the bell sound
No matter how low, how low, how low, how low
I worked in the bone-house when I was a boy
Making room for the new, pushing back the soil
When I found gouges, made from within
Maybe they were a brother, lover, or mother
And it wasn't long til I found another
Put down low when they never should of been
So now at night I sing among the dead
And busy my spade when I have accompaniment
Dig, Sing, Dig, Sing, Dig, Sing, Dig, Sing